Water, Wonders, and Trunk Trouble
by StoryMaker the Echidna
Summary: Eleanor decides to have a simple pool party. She has no idea that she's setting into motion events that will result in someone committing a crime - against her. What does the attack have to do with the Mystery Mountain and its residents? Or is it some kind of trick? Inspired by BestCrossoverMovies' request.
1. Chapter 1

_All JumpStart characters, concepts, etc. are copyright Knowledge Adventure. I do not own any rights to them whatsoever. This is fan fiction that is in no way endorsed, approved, or acknowledged by Knowledge Adventure Inc. Any opinions and beliefs therein are mine, _not _Knowledge Adventure's. I am not affiliated with Knowledge Adventure in any way. Yet. It might be nice to be an employee someday. :)__  
_

**Water, Wonders and Trunk Trouble  
**_Inspired by BestCrossoverMovies' request**  
**_

Chapter 1

_A huge smile spread across Eleanor's face as she ran, ran, ran, unreserved, into the lake's deep blue water. _SPLASH!

_Her entire body felt the wondrous water. She felt its waves continuously rippling, causing her to bob up and down. Her skin felt the smooth, pure water - it was a sensation like no other. And her eyes saw the blue beauty of the lake - oh, the awe-inspiring blue! Oh, the beautiful shimmering surface that waved and swayed. Eleanor smiled with delight. It was the simple beauty of God's creation._

Eleanor gave a slight smile to herself as she read the old page of her writing journal - a small book with covers that were cloaked in a colorful, thin cloth with a floral pattern, and with pages that were covered with light-brown lines and cursive writing written in various pen colors. She was currently reading an entry from a few years ago. Even though it wasn't an example of her _best _writing, she liked it because it painted a beautiful picture in her mind of a wonderful day spent at the beach. The pink elephant sighed happily. _If I had to make a list of my favorite things, they'd be reading, writing, and..._ She smiled. _Water. _Then she frowned. _It's been a long ti__me since I've spent a good, _long _time in the water. It's so fun to just s__it, and bathe...and even _more _fun to swim_, _dive and play. _She gave a little smile to herself, remembering the times when she was a girl, a very young girl, living in Africa. She didn't remember those days too well, but she remembered them well enough to recall wonderful, fun times swimming and playing in the waterhole. She gave a happy sigh. _Hmm, _she thought. _I know what to do._

* * *

The next day, Frankie was busily cooking a batch of dog biscuit pancakes for a breakfast for him and his cousin, Squirt.

"How about you get those special peanut buttery treats from the cupboard, Squirt?" Frankie said to his small, big-eared cousin.

"Sure, Frankie!" said the puppy, bouncing up onto a chair and reaching up into the cabinet.

_Ding...dong._

"I'll get it," said Frankie. "Don't move a muscle!"

"Not even my heart?" Frankie heard Squirt say as he ran over. Frankie sighed, rolling his eyes and smiling, and opened the door.

"Well, hello there!" said an old, goofy-looking turquoise bird. "Just the mailman carryin' you your mail."

"Um, sure...thanks!" said Frankie. He wanted to be gracious, but he couldn't help but be a bit suspicious of mailmen.

"Anyway...see ya 'round," said the mailbird, waddling off before breaking off into a flight.

Frankie smiled and closed the door.

"What is it, Frankie? What is it Frankie? I _love _getting new mail!" Squirt squealed, running towards the taller brown dog.

"Didn't I tell you not to move a muscle?" Frankie said jokingly.

"Oopsie!" said Squirt, putting his hands on the sides of his jaws.

"Ahh, Squirt," said Frankie, putting his palm on his face and laughing. He walked over to the table and opened up the pink envelope.

Inside was a simple invitation handwritten in beautiful cursive:

_You are invited to Eleanor's Pool Party at the pool in my backyard._

Frankie was confused. _Eleanor has a pool in her backyard? _He read on.

_(I just bought it.)  
_

"Oh," said Frankie.

_I trust you know my address, and if you don't, call me, and if you don't know my phone number, email me. ;)_

Frankie smiled.

_We'll mainly just swim, chill out and have fun! If you want to, bring a snack to share.  
You'll have plenty of time to show off any water-related natural talents. I'm even inviting Botley over so he can examine the natural abilities of us anthropomorphic animals!  
_

"Anthro-_what?_" Frankie said aloud._  
_

_You know, anthropomorphic. Imbued with the traits of humans. Anthropomorphic animals = animal-people, essentially. Like us._

"Oh," said Frankie.

_See you soon! God bless you! ~Eleanor_

"I will," said Frankie. He placed the mail in his mail storage container.

"Ooh, Frankie! Was it an invitation? For _me?_" Squirt hopped up and down.

Frankie laughed. "I'm sure Eleanor wouldn't object to you coming, Squirt."

"Cool! Eleanor! Can I see her perform?" Squirt grinned.

"...Perform?" Frankie was puzzled.

"Yeah. 'Perform' means 'to give a performance'." Squirt smiled.

Frankie laughed. "What _kind _of a performance?"

"When she babysat me, and I got tired of reading and playing with stuffed animals and stuff, she performed some real cool circus-y tricks for me, Frankie!" Squirt said happily. "She lifted and threw stuff, Frankie!" he said with delight. "Do you think she used to be a circus elephant?"

Frankie laughed. "_I _used to be a circus dog, Squirt!" said Frankie. "Did you know that?"

"Uh...maybe," said Squirt. "You are pretty funny."

"Aww, thanks..."

"By the way, when _is _the party?"

"Huh?" Frankie took the invitation back out of its container and read it again. "Oh. Today at 2:00."

"Awww, but it's already..." He glanced at the digital clock on the wall. "12:55, Frankie! I guess we missed it."

Frankie laughed. "Not really, Squirt! Ever heard of AM and PM?"

"Uhh...oh yeah!" said Squirt. "That means it's going to be 1:00 in...5 minutes, right?"

"Yup," said Frankie. "That means..."

"We have about, uh, 1 hour to the party!" said Squirt.

"Right you are, Squirt!" said Frankie. "We have one hour to get ready."

"_Cool!_" said Squirt. "Uh...like what? I mean, what do we have to get ready?"

"Well, for one thing, we have to get our swimsuits on," said Frankie.

"We could just go naked," said Squirt.

Frankie gave Squirt a glare.

"Or not," said the puppy meekly. "Though, you know, I'm not wearing pants right now-"

"We could also try perfecting our animal talents," Frankie suggested.

"Cool!" said Squirt. "What our some great things us dogs can do?"

"I'll tell you a minute...right after this short commercial break," Frankie said.

"Huh?" said Squirt.

"StoryMaker likes pretending that she's writing episodes of a JumpStart TV show," Frankie explained.

"Oh," said Squirt.

"So, in other words, right after this short _chapter _break." He smiled.

* * *

_Did you catch the JumpStart 2nd Grade reference and the JumpStart Reading for First Graders (JumpStart 1st Grade Reading) reference? Probably not. Well, I'll let you know what it was specifically in the next chapter. You know, just a bit of fun :D_

_(This is not interactive; putting your answer up in a review won't change the next chapter. It's just a bit of trivia.)  
_


	2. Chapter 2

_Just to reiterate: the following story contains characters and concepts copyright Knowledge Adventure, but the story and all beliefs contained therein are mine, 100% mine, and NOT created or necessarily held by anyone affiliated with Knowledge Adventure. This is 100% pure fan work, OK? Do not by any means judge anything about JumpStart based on this work. It is not affiliated with Knowledge Adventure in any way! Alright? Got that? Got that? Good..._

**Water, Wonders and Trunk Trouble  
**_Inspired by BestCrossoverMovies' request  
_

Chapter 2

"So, Frankie," Squirt said. "What are some cool dog things we can do at Eleanor's party?"

"Well..." said Frankie.

_"We...can..._

_Smell really well_

_Get a wiff of this!_

_We can tell if someone has cancer_

_With nothin' but a sniff!_

_Our ears can swivel in amazing ways_

_We can cheer people up on the dreariest of days!_

_Some dogs can rescue people lost in snow_

_Where the winds are fast and the blizzards blow!"_

_"Frankie, this stuff is nice, I mean it from my heart -_

_But for _our _act, where do we start?_

_We may have a good sense of smell,_

_But many other critters can smell quite well!_

_And unless some people have cancer or are lost in snow,_

_About our great talents, no one will know!"_

"Hmmm," said Frankie. "I don't know..."

"How about we just snarf down a lot of food?" Squirt suggested with a grin.

"Ha!" said Frankie. "Maybe, Squirt. _Maybe._"

* * *

"Come one, come all!" Eleanor shouted. "Come to my amazing pool party!"

JumpStart pals were quickly streaming towards Eleanor's pool full of gorgeous, shimmering blue water - many of them carrying snacks with them.

"Wheee!"

Before Eleanor could even say "hello", CJ Frog leaped into the air and dived head-first into the water with a big _splash, _tossing water into Eleanor's face - but she didn't mind. "Good to see you, CJ!" the water-soaked elephant said, laughing and jumping in with him, which caused an even bigger splash than CJ did.

"Wheee! Water is a _blast!_" said CJ. "Frogs _love _it!" He smiled broadly, throwing his hands into the air.

"So do elephants," Eleanor said with a giggle. Soon, other friends began diving into the pool.

"Tigers love water!" said Kisha, jumping into the pool.

"But you're a koala," CJ pointed out. "At least, I think."

Kisha sighed. "You can never be sure! Does this story take place in the post-2005 canon or not?"

"I think it's sort of a mix of multiple JumpStart continuities," Hopsalot observed. "But probably mostly pre-2005."

"Rats," Kisha grumped. "I mean, I like being a koala and all, and we _can _swim, but we're a bit partial to climbing."

"Ah well, that's _cool _with me!" Pierre exclaimed, launching his pudgy white body into the water and swimming underwater for a few seconds before resurfacing. "Us polar bears _love _the water and swim a ton!" he declared. "Pandas, on the other hand...well, they like water too, actually. But they don't swim as much - I think." He yawned. "Who cares!" he said, splashing in the pool.

"Well, I'm glad we're all enjoying the party," said Eleanor with a smile.

"Casey's not here, though," said Frankie as he made a somewhat less splashy entrance into the pool. "Makes sense, since cats don't like water-"

_"Woooo-hoooo!"_

_SP-LASSHHHhh!  
_

The JumpStart characters turned away as an object crashed into the water with great impact, spraying everyone nearby with water.

"Wh-?" said Frankie, rubbing his wet face as he looked to see what it was. "It's -"

"Casey Cat doing a cannonball!" said the yellow-orange feline, throwing his hands up into the air and smiling.

"But...cats don't like water," Kisha said, perplexed.

"Well," said CJ, "that's true of _most _cats, because cats are usually prissy and cleanly and don't want to mess up their fur by getting it wet. But some cats like it, especially if they're messy slobs."

Casey playfully flicked water in CJ's face.

"Hey!" said CJ with a smile.

Hops glanced around. "Is this everyone you invited, Eleanor?" he asked.

"Well," said Eleanor wistfully. "Hmmm. Well...CJ, where's Edison?" she suddenly asked.

"Right here," said the firefly. He was sitting on the snack table, munching on some Irish-cider-vinegar-and-salt flavored chips.

"Aww, Edison, ol' pal! Why not come join us in the water?" CJ asked.

Edison rolled his eyes. "You, of all people, should know that bugs do _not _like water." He snacked on another chip.

"They do if they're water bugs," said CJ. "You know, technically, Edison, you're not a bug. You're an insect, but not a bug, because the term 'bugs' only scientifically refers to insects in the order Hemiptera."

Edison rolled his eyes. "Well, thanks for the scientific accuracy."

"Did you invite anyone else?" Hopsalot asked.

"Well, I invited a few people...Cecil, Jack, Roquefort, Bebop, Chloe, Hiroshi, Jess, and maybe a few others...but they said they couldn't come," Eleanor said. "The only one who I invited, said they'd come, but hasn't yet is..."

"Botley," the friends said in unison.

"WhaaAAAaaaahhh!"

All the friends turned around to see who it was. It was Botley, flying wildly on a jet pack through the sky. "IIIII CAAAAAAN'T STO-O-O-OP!" he wailed as he zoomed around uncontrollably.

"Ohhh, no..." Frankie said, placing his hand on his brow and shaking his head.

"Don't worry, I can, uhh, take care of this!" said Hops, though a sweatdrop trickled down his forehead. He hopped out of the pool and swiftly snatched a device from the ground.

"This is the Grabbit," said the rabbit, holding up the device. It was a kind of clunky gun with a grabbing-claw device protruding from its end, which you could see through the transparent body of the gun, was attaching to a long, wound-up string. Hops held the device by its red stock and trigger. "It allows you to...heh, grab it!"

His friends stared at him.

"OK, maybe not the best marketing slogan," said Hops, looking embarrassed.

"No, the slogan is fine, it's just the _context _that's not good," Eleanor said.

"Uh, yeah. Right." Hops aimed the device at Botley. "Ready...aim..._fire!_" The claw shot out and grabbed Botley. "_Yes!_" said Hops. "Now just to reel in - _whoa!_"

As the string retracted into the Grabbit, Hopsalot was dragged along by the wildly soaring 'bot. "AaaAAAaahhhh!" the rabbit yelped, his feet flailing in the air.

"Oh, great!" Kisha said.

"Never fear, Hops!" said CJ. He snatched from his belt an Indiana Jones-style whip. His eyes narrowed. Botley was flying somewhat close to the ground now. It was the opportune moment. _Crack! _With one deftly-aimed shot, he knocked the jet pack, which was attached pretty flimsily to Botley, right off the robot's body.

"GyAAAHH!" both the robot and the rabbit yelled as they fell.

"Got you!" Eleanor yelped, grabbing the two with her trunk.

"Whew!" said Hops. "That was a close one!" Eleanor set the two on the ground.

"Thanks, you two!" said Hops to CJ and Eleanor.

"Wow, Eleanor! That trunk of yours is something else!" Botley exclaimed.

Eleanor smiled. "It is a rather amazing device," she said, twirling it around and smiling. "Not to brag or anything - I didn't make it myself, of course." She winked.

Botley smiled oddly. "Uhh, anyway," he said, "I was kind of interested in, you know, seeing your animal talents. You already made a rather nice display of your trunk's strength...but I understand it has other amazing attributes that I'd like to see."

Eleanor giggled. "But of course!" She flexed her trunk and hopped back into the pool. "My trunk is a very incredible invention," said Eleanor. "It's almost like a hand! It is _extremely _versatile and flexible" - she waved it around in the air, curling it around itself and twisting it this was and that - "and, in the case of African elephants like me, it has two 'fingers', if you will, that allow it to grasp things freely. Asian elephants only have one, you see. Now, these fingers allow us to grasp all sorts of things, big and small, with ease!" She smiled. "I'll demonstrate." She walked over to a small table and sat down on a small (but apparently very strong) chair. She opened her journal and grasped a pen with her trunk, smiling a bit smugly. Then, she wrote on the page. Her audience (which was mostly Botley and Squirt, as the others had seen her do this before) were captivated.

"Wow!" said Squirt. "That's better than I can write! If I used my nose to write, do you think I could be able to write as good?" His tail wagged.

Eleanor just giggled. "Um, well...maybe. Heh heh. We elephants can also do other cool things with our trunk!" She demonstrated by sticking her trunk into the water and sucking it in. Then, she lifted her trunk high and sprayed the water up into the air, creating an impressive fountain. She then proceeded to repeat the action, except this time, she sprayed the water into her mouth. She licked her lips. "Mmm! Water that's been in my nose! Delicious!" she joked. Her friends laughed (some a bit oddly).

"OK...so, how much water can you hold in your trunk at one time?" asked Botley.

"I'm not sure," said Eleanor. "I think...15 quarts or so."

"Really?" asked Hops. "That seems like a lot."

Eleanor shrugged. "That's what I've heard elephants can hold in their trunks - I haven't tested it for myself."

"Well, why not try?" said Hops happily.

"Yeah!" said CJ. "Anyone have a 15-quart bucket?"

Everyone glanced at each other and blinked. Finally, Kisha spoke up.

"Well," she said, glancing at the snack table, "my bowl of Luscious Orange Mango Punch holds 5 quarts, my bowl of Pretty Pink Strawberry Watermelon Lemonade holds 5 quarts, and my bowl of Beautiful Blueberry and Gorgeous Grape Punch holds 5 quarts, so...all together, that's 15 quarts."

"We could use the punch bowls to hold water, if they were empty, but no one's had any punch yet," Kisha continued. "So will we have to just...drink a lot of punch?"

There was a glint in Eleanor's eye. "Wait, Kisha." She whispered something into Kisha's ear. The koala nodded as Eleanor talked to her. At first, she had a sort of skeptical look on her face, but slowly, her mouth broke into a broad smile.

"That sounds great, Eleanor!" Kisha said. Eleanor smiled.

"Alright then," she said, rubbing her hands together. She walked over to the punch bowls and stuck her trunk in the orange-mango one, and took a deep breath. The entire bowl was soon slurped into her nose. People gave her odd looks, but she just proceeded to inhale up the two other bowls of punch.

"Wow! Your trunk really does hold 15 quarts!" Hops exclaimed, ignoring the fact that Eleanor had just slurped up all of the party's punch. "It must feel weird to have _that _much punch up your nose!"

Eleanor held her trunk high. "A little," she giggled. "But mostly, it just makes me want to _trumpet _with joy!"

Suddenly, a huge trumpeting sound emitted from Eleanor's trunk, sending a beautiful, multicolored punch fountain high into the sky. "Wow!" some exclaimed. Many of the boys began running under the flavorful fountain with their mouths wide open, slurping up the delicious liquid.

"Mmm-mmm!" Casey smacked his lips. "Kisha, this punch you made is _great!_"

"Yeah, especially since it was just in my nose!" Eleanor said with a laugh.

"Uhh...yeah," said Casey, feeling a bit awkward...and maybe sorta sick, too.

Kisha rolled her eyes at the boys. "How gross," she said. "Still, that beautiful rainbow fountain was as good as use as any for my punch, I think!" she said, smiling at Eleanor. (Kisha loves colorful rainbow things, you know.)

"That trunk of yours _is_ pretty amazing, 'Trunky'!" Hopsalot said to Eleanor with an affectionate wink. The pink elephant blushed, causing her already-pink cheeks to become red.

"Anyway," Hops continued, looking away from the elephant, "us rabbits also have many amazing attributes and talents," Hops said. "We can dig well, and do other stuff. We're great hoppers, for example!" He smiled and gave a few small hops in circles, then gave a few medium hops, and culminated his performance with a few huge hops straight into the air.

"Nice!" said Botley.

"But that's not the only thing we can do with our feet," Hops said. "We can also use them to warn others of danger. Like this." He thumped his foot on the ground, creating a loud and distinct sound. "And when we're attacked, we can both _bite _with our _sharp_ front teeth _and _use our big feet for a powerful _kick!_" He then tossed a ball in the air and powerfully kicked it - hitting Botley on the head. "Err, oops!" said Hops, blushing.

"Umm, that's OK," said Botley, looking dizzy.

"Ha! You may be able to hop, Hopsalot, but us frogs are excellent _leapers!_" With a single leap, CJ soared through the air and landed far away, and with one more jump, he landed back where he was before. "Ta-da!"

"Wow! That _is _pretty good," Hops admitted. The JumpStart pals clapped.

"We're the best jumpers of all animals with backbones," said CJ proudly. "Of course, I guess I shouldn't be proud, because it's not like _I _made my legs so super strong."

"Right. Just processes of evolution," said Botley. "They're amazing, right?"

"Uhhh...yeah," said CJ. "_Really _amazing. _Unbelievable, _in fact. I mean, how can mutations, which are unable to create any radically new information, turn a...a...an _insect _into a frog?"

"Hey! Are you indicating that frogs are better than insects?" Edison snorted.

"Um, well -"

"You see, us insects can do some pretty fascinating things," said Edison. "I'll demonstrate by having CJ clap his hand over my mouth."

"Um, OK..." said CJ, doing so.

They waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"Stop, CJ!" said Squirt. "You're gonna suffocate Edison!"

"No, I'm not!" said CJ. "You see, insects don't breathe through their mouths!"

"_Hey!_" Edison snapped, grasping the frog's hand and dragging his mouth out of its grip. "_I _was going to make the big reveal. Remember? That's what we agreed on!"

"As for us frogs, we can make use of _multiple _ways to breathe," the amphibian adventurer said. "Not only do we have lungs, but we can also breathe through our skin!" he said proudly.

He meant for people to be impressed, but Casey just said, "Ewww. Breathing through your skin? Yecch."

CJ looked offended.

"Us cats can do some _really _cool stuff," said Casey, ignoring CJ. "Our bodies are super agile" - he struck a pose - "and our senses are sharp! Our eyes have reflective layers that allow us to see in minimal light, so we can creep around in the dark and _pounce _at a moment's notice!" He grabbed Botley's leg.

"GYAH!" Botley impulsively stomped on the kitty's paw.

"OW!" Casey yowled, withdrawing his hand.

"As for us polar bears," said Pierre, "we're great swimmers - and hunters!" He grabbed Eleanor, but the elephant seemed undaunted, shooing the playful polar bear away with her trunk.

"No horseplay!" said Kisha to her fellow bear. "Huh?" she shouted, looking at the sentence I just wrote. "Us koalas may be called 'koala bears' sometimes, but we _are not _bears. You should know that!"

I do, but I just wanted to do that for fun and so you could offer some gratuitous educational value.

Kisha sighed. "Oh, StoryMaker!"

"Hey," said Frankie, "us dogs can see in dim light, like cats!"

"Why did you jump back in the conversation like that?" Squirt questioned.

"Because...I wanted to?" said Frankie lamely.

"Anyway, Frankie told me that us dogs are great at _lots _of things," Squirt said. "Like...uh..." He looked thoughtful. "Chasing cats!" He ran towards Casey, but unfortunately for him, the cat did not run away.

"Hey!" said Squirt. "How'm I s'posed to chase you if you don't run away?" The puppy looked sad.

"Oh, fine, I'll run away," said Casey good-naturedly.

"Great!" said Squirt. He ran after Casey - only for the cat to run straight into a tree.

"Awwww_wwwww_," moaned Squirt. "No f_ai-air!_" he whined, pouting and stomping on the ground.

"Aww, that's the way the cookie crumbles," said Frankie. "Cats may be able to climb with their retractable claws, but us dogs have a better sense of smell than cats!"

"Yes, but _cats _have a better sense of hearing," said Casey.

"But _dogs _have stronger jaws," Frankie pointed out.

"But _cats _have sharper teeth," said Casey.

"But _dogs _can _crush bones _with our bite," said Frankie.

"But _cats _can _puncture vital organs_ with our bite," said Casey.

"This...is an interesting conversation," Edison pondered.

"Oop!" said Frankie. "I'm supposed to be the morally upright one, right?" He cleared his throat. "This is a PSA announcement from Frankie: We do not sponsor biting people. Or animals. Biting is bad, whether you're a person biting a person, an animal biting an animal, an animal biting a person, or a person biting an animal."

"What if the animal you're biting is dead?" asked Squirt. "Or what if the person you're biting is dead? And what about people biting plants? And what about animals biting plants?"

"And what about plants biting people?" said CJ, holding up a venus flytrap.

"Or plants biting animals!" Hops chimed in.

"Um, this is, uh, nice riveting conversation and all," said Botley, "but I'd better get back to Mystery Mountain with the information I've acquired."

"But how will you get back without a jet pack?" Kisha asked.

"You can use one of _my _jet packs," Hops said. He opened up his backpack and dragged one out.

"Wow! Thanks, Hopsalot," said Botley, reaching to grab it.

"Uh-uh!" said Hops, whisking it out of the robot's reach. "That'll be $500, please," he said, stretching out his arm and opening his palm to receive the cash he demanded.

"Awwww! C'mon, Hops! I don't have any money with me!" Botley complained.

"That's OK," said Hops. "Just give me one of your arms. That should be worth enough!"

Botley looked annoyed.

"Hey, at least I'm not charging you an arm _and _a leg, right? Hyuk-hyuk-hyuk..."

The JumpStart gang stared at him.

"Uh...heh heh..." He coughed. "OK, I'm just joking around, I guess. You can give me the five hundred later - I don't mind."

"OK," said Botley, "I will." He took it. "See ya - and thanks for the demonstrations!" He zoomed off.

Hops smiled. Then, he and the rest of his pals went back to swimming and playing.

They had no idea just what kind of impact Botley's little visit would have, however...

* * *

_In case you're wondering about the JumpStart trivia from the previous chapter - Frankie was revealed to be a former circus dog in JumpStart Reading for First Grade (or JumpStart 1st Grade Reading), and in JumpStart 2nd Grade, an old turquoise bird was a mail carrier. (By the way, I have played neither game; I read a review on SuperKids of the former game and watched a YouTube video of the latter.)  
_

_This story contained a few references, too...I might as well explain them now. Cecil, Jack, Roquefort, Bebop, Chloe, Hiroshi, and Jess are all minor JumpStart characters. Cecil is from the 1999 version of JumpStart Preschool (and also appeared in JumpStart ABC's and the JumpStart Preschool VHS), Jack, Roquefort, and Bebop are from JumpStart Kindergarten 1998 version (except Roquefort also appeared in the 1994 version, and they appeared in other products after their initial appearance too, like in the JumpStart Kindergarten VHS, for example), Chloe and Hiroshi are from JumpStart Languages/Language Club (and never appeared elsewhere), and Jess is from JumpStart 6th Grade (and made a few other appearances, such as in the JumpStart Spy Masters games). And that's a wrap, folks!  
_


	3. Chapter 3

**Water, Wonders, and Trunk Trouble**

Chapter 3

Eleanor Elephant was a sound sleeper.

It seemed that, every night, she fell asleep soundly enough to dream mere moments after her heavy head sunk into the pillow. Each night, she was immersed in an amazing, fantastic world that seemed as vivid as the real one. But it was a world where anything was possible, a land full of her favorite story book characters, fantastic adventures, and all sorts of amazing happenings.

Sometimes, that wasn't a good thing. She recalled one dream - a dream that _started _wonderfully. Both her and Kisha were taking a lovely stroll through the land of Narnia, when suddenly the White Which came. She and Kisha suddenly became archers, desperately fighting a losing battle against the mighty sorceress. And just when it seemed like the tide had turned, Kisha began to change.

Her gray fur changed to a crisp brown and her smock and beret morphed into a wizard's outfit. Then, she grew claws and began chasing Eleanor, screaming hideous curses as she did so. Eleanor ran, and ran, and ran. But then, they came.

Every single My Little Pony she had ever owned was chasing her. And they were mad. As she ran and ran with all her might away from Kisha and the hideous plastic ponies, she fell into a land. A strange land. A land made entirely of gooey candy and sweets. And all her friends were there - each one a twisted, hideous version of their former self.

Well, OK. Once she had awoke, she realized that actually the "twisted and hideous" forms were actually rather goofy. CJ had grown extra limbs and was donning nothing but Cupid-patterned underpants. Hopsalot was huge and wearing goofy overalls. She couldn't remember the rest, but they were all very silly in retrospect. But while she was dreaming, they were _terrifying._

That night, as Eleanor, exhausted from her fun but exerting pool party, fell into a deep sleep even quicker than normal, she didn't encounter Narnia, the White Which, My Little Ponies, or any altered versions of any of her friends.

At first, she had a nice pleasant dream about a relatively normal day, except that she had invited several Disney princesses over for a tea party. She had a fun time talking with them.

She was just taking a sip of tea - hot, flavorful, almost magical tea, sweet as blueberries and fragrant as jasmine - and was enjoying it immensely, when she suddenly felt a strange, uncomfortable sensation in her trunk. She squirmed it about, but it was as if some force had suddenly imposed its will over her own trunk. Suddenly, her trunk kept twisting and turning uncontrollably. It was...it was...it was _tying itself into knots. _She tried to stop it, but she couldn't. And suddenly...she...she...she couldn't breathe...

_NO! _she thought. _Auuurrgghhh!_ _I've got floppy trunk syndrome! Floppy trunk syndrome...floppy trunk syndrome...floppy trunk syndrome..._

_NOOOOOOO!_

* * *

The first thing she thought when she awoke was, _I can't believe I thought that! Floppy trunk syndrome is when your trunk stops moving, not when your trunk moves uncontrollably!_

And the second thing she thought was, _I still can't breathe through my nose!_

She gave a deep gasp as she realized that her trunk was tangled. Just as in her dream. _Just as in her dream._

For one moment, all of Eleanor's smarts - all of Eleanor's _reason _- seemed to fly far from her mind. She was too panicked - and she had too much of an imagination - to even begin to think logically.

She couldn't stop hyperventilating and clutching her tangle of trunk. The rosy color left her face as one hideous horror plagued her mind...

A terrible mass. A terrible mass of vile green mist. Not mist - thick smoke. Thick smog. A smog more poison than any natural substance. Perhaps it rose from the cauldron of some hideous witch, a witch who had imprisoned or eaten or simply _tortured _countless princesses, just because she wanted to. Just because she was evil. And the mist seeped into her trunk and took control. It tangled the trunk it possessed into knots. Because the witch wanted nothing more than to kill Eleanor.

_"No, no, NO!"_ Eleanor screamed at the top of her lungs and tears streamed down her cheeks. "_You won't kill me! You won't kill me, you wicked_-!"

Eleanor gasped deeply, and then she gave in. She flopped onto her bed, her once pink face now perfectly pale.

* * *

_(Kisha's transformation was a reference to her character design in the 1999 version of JumpStart Preschool - 'cept the real thing didn't have big claws. The fact that Hops' monstrous form wore overalls is a reference to the 1994 version of JumpStart Kindergarten. Not that I'm trying to depict either character design as bad - I just wanted to make some funny references. Also, the twisted version of CJ having extra limbs is a reference to this disease frogs can apparently get that makes them grow extra, non-moving limbs. Twisted CJ's cupid underwear is a reference to the fact that me and my sisters made CJ wear such undies back when we made up JumpStart stories orally years ago.__)_


End file.
